aibu to be annoyed letting agent dropped rent by £50

[toohoottoday]

I have just found out my letting agent has dropped the rental for the property I rent by £50. This rental income represents over half my income, and I can't really afford a drop. He had chatted with me about rental but we didn't agree to drop it. He had said we may have to, but then rents had increased since our last tenant came in, so the drop due to the covid situation may even it out to the current rent level, and that he already had three households interested before it was even advertised. So given that, and being as we never agreed a decrease, I wasn't expecting it to be dropped. There are now several tenants who all want to rent it and he has asked me to choose this weekend. I am therefore surprised therefore after checking his website to see he has advertised it as lower than the previous rent.

AIBU to be annoyed about this? I don't suppose there is anything I can do about it now. That is £600 a year that I will be poorer off and I am already on a low income with two kids to support.

You're a landlord and cant afford a £50 drop in income? What will you do for repairs ?

In the name of all that’s holy, LEARN TO FUCKING READ!!!

Are people deluded?

Because the responses on this thread look that way

The agent doesn’t have the right to just drop the price, have a pleasant chat and ask them to relist and inform those interested that they advertised the price incorrectly. End of.
Naturally you could run the risk of not letting out as quickly as you had thought but it sounds like you know the market.
Re hidden costs, my advice to you from my previous experience, do not under any circumstances let your property to anyone with a bond from the council ie the council cover the deposit. Our tenant / agency produced one 2 days before tenant moved in dismissing as not a big deal but they can’t afford deposit. The tenant trashed our house, costing £4K to redecorate and sort the garden and the council wanted to pay about £500 of it. We had to fight long and hard for it and took guarantee to small claims court.

I likes many others were accidental Landlord... our house was to small for us, we rented it and rented ourselves until we were in a position to move up the housing ladder.

Good luck with sorting!

@toohoottoday

It's worth thinking about whether the letting agent's interests are fully aligned with yours.

For example, your LA wants to let as quickly as possible (fewer viewings means less work, and he may have targets to meet). Things that can help him let more quickly include:

• Drop the price (a £50 pcm drop is probably a mere £5-£7.50 pcm drop for him if he works on commission, or a £0 drop if it's fixed fee).
• Let to the first people who apply (fewer viewings, few applications, less work) even if they are not suitable.

He would probably also prefer tenants who will move again in 6 months, because he can then 'help' you find new tenants again, and 'help' your tenants find a new place, earning more commission for himself in the process.

The following is of course anecdotal, but it illustrates my point. When we first let our house, an agent from the biggest EA in the city told us we would only get £800-£900 pcm for it, and tried to persuade us that we should let our 3-bed to a couple or individual (told us they make better tenants than families, but of course the real reason is that they are more mobile, and will likely move sooner). Instead, we paid

If there are people who want it, they will pay the extra £50 - don't go down

Wow!! The land lord haters on MN 🙈😬🙄
“Why don’t you just sell” 🤣🙈 man alive people are idiots!

Actually, I'm surprised that no one has suggested the OP doesn't GIVE the house away! 🙄🤣

I am LL too. The agent does not have the right to rent out property unless price is agreed with you first.

I would tell agent to either relist at price you want or move to a better agent.

We do not use an agent anymore. Just ask for reference from previous LL and ask to see payslip. Check passport to make sure not illegal immigrant. Use ARLA website for wording of lease terms. Take gas, electricity and water readings on day they move in and get them to sign to say readings stayed are correct. You have to give all new tenants copy of their rights as tenants and gas and we give electric very too. Take deposit and put into scheme. Photograph each room, print out copy and get tenant to sign images, give them inventory and get them to sign that too. Give them copies of everything and set up dd for payment.

@caringcarer Agreed. We've just used OpenRent to get the referencing sorted for our new tenants plus it only cost us £20 per tenant. Obviously, we're so evil as LL's we paid for this.

This has nothing to do with repairs etc etc it has to do with letting agent doing something without talking to landlord which Is wrong .

If you're normally happy with the service your agent supplies then I would simply tell him he made a mistake in the rent. He or a staff member might have done.

Good advice from @ caringcarer

I would definately tell the LA that they have to advertise it at the amount you want. If there are a lot of people who have applied they will find people easily who will pay more. If you rent it too cheaply you could be stuck with someone who only wants a cheap house and would not look after it as well.
Our LA puts the rent up each time we need a new tennant (we have had 4 in 15years) to keep us with the going rate. They told us that each year the rent can legally be increased but we have always left it as the origional rate as each tenant has paid regularly and kept the house in good order.

If you can't afford a £50 drop per month and it totals half of your income, then imo you should sell the property so that you have a decent amount of capital instead. Do you have a few thousand set aside for any future problems? You definitely need to have that as a minimum.
I wouldn't want to be your tenant.

I’m loving all the people jumping on the OP’s back about non-relevant things.

As if any of them would just say “oh well” if someone working on their mortgage made a mistake and made it an extra £50 a month

God above this thread! OP, my family home is let while I live abroad. We did have to reduce the rent but the agent and I discussed it.

Ok so you have three prospective tenants. I would call the agent, have a sharp word, and ask him to ring two of those three, advising that he made an error and the rent is really £50 higher. Tell him you want it made very clear this is not you messing them about, it is an admin error at their end. If the first two say no, ask him to come back to you to discuss. Ask for his assurance he will not speak disparagingly about the new rent.

Tell your agent you didn't agree to the lower rental and ask him to take less commission on the let.
Take a mortgage holiday that's on offer atm than you can relist at the higher rental you need.
Change your agent.

@Jojofjo44 learn to read

I'm confused - why didn't you just say "no, I never agreed to that and it's not happening"?

@toohottoday please don't listen to the people berating you. It's not at all acceptable and it absolutely shouldn't have been done without hour say so!

The point here irrespective of anything else is the estate agent made a decision without your consent... this requires discussion.

YANBU. It's your property not theirs.

FFS. Some harsh replies, yes, but this is 15 pages of OP replying assertively to people while showing massive reluctance to do that with the letting agent, in spite of very helpful suggested replies from @SummerDayWinterEvenings and others. You could have emailed the agent 100 times while you've been replying on here!

The wounded posts from landlords who seem so hurt that they are widely regarded as exploitative rather than charitable always make me laugh.

What do you find funny about them?

Goodness me, what on earth have I just read? The OP came on rightly so to ask advice, and then the thread derailed into a bjtchfest?

I cannot believe what a hard time you are getting here either! I would not accept the decrease, ask him to relay the price and apologise for his mistake to the interested parties and if they don't want it try and haggle for a reduction in his fees as you will have to relist.

Actually, I'm surprised that no one has suggested the OP doesn't GIVE the house away! 🙄🤣

I was just thinking the same. I’m a tenant. Christ, I didn’t know it was obligatory to hate your landlord. Never seen so much resentment/anger/jealousy.